Stupid cleaning question

[MikeG]

My bike is in pieces now getting worked on. THe tank and plastic are at the body shop and the battery is on the tender. I'm going to have a lot of electrical and brake work done soon.

Can I just use a bucket of soapy water, clean all the dust and grime off the bike as t is and rinse it off with a sprayer? Do I need to protect all the wires if there's no battery in it?

[JEEPRUSTY]

My bike is in pieces now getting worked on. THe tank and plastic are at the body shop and the battery is on the tender. I'm going to have a lot of electrical and brake work done soon.

Can I just use a bucket of soapy water, clean all the dust and grime off the bike as t is and rinse it off with a sprayer? Do I need to protect all the wires if there's no battery in it?

You cant protect the wires when driving in torrential rain. It gets everywhere along with dust and crap.

Wash and rinse, then rinse again to be sure. If you want use shampoo if it wont hurt your scalp and cleans greasy hair it wont hurt your bike.
Conditioner will be taking it too far though.
Golf tees or something to block fule and other lines. and maybe block the air intake with a rag.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I wash mine and spray with a hose all the time. If it is a chain Clean & lube it after so it doesn't rust

[spyug]

I use a good degreaser in a spray like Simply Green ( and a stiff bristle brush if necessary to get hard crud loosened up). Then hose off with clear water and wipe down with the blue paper shop towels. Then to drive out the moisture from leads and put some lustre on metal I spray with WD40 and wipe off the excess.

As Lynn mentions, make sure you wipe off the chain and lubricate before finishing. You'll find the chain can rust up quickly with even a tad of moisture on it.

Good luck and take some before and after shots.

Cheers,
spyug